Management of collaborative teams

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for dynamically creating collaborative teams and managing collaborative work of a team are generally disclosed herein. One example embodiment includes the dynamic creation of a collaborative team by creating an association between team members via a managing module. The managing module may be capable of managing, among other things, team members on a team, tasks and goals of each member of the team, as well as documentation associated with the team. In some embodiments, the managing module may use a chat or messaging protocol to manage collaborative modifications to documents of the team.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to network-based communications. Some embodimentsrelate to the use of chat or messaging protocols to create network-basedconnections.

BACKGROUND

An employee or worker may have a broad, multifaceted role in a businessor corporation. The worker may belong to several different collaborativeteams and may be one of any number of members on the team. In somecases, these teams may have overlapping membership and goals.Additionally, each team may have multiple shared documents upon whichthe team may collaborate.

Collaborative teams may create a logistical challenge for each worker onthe team. For example, it may be difficult for a worker to keep track ofthe various teams of which the worker may be a member, including keepingtrack of the worker's role, other team members, deliverables, etc.Additionally, it may be difficult to ensure that each worker is workingfrom the most up-to-date content or document and is able to find anyrelevant resources needed.

Typically, collaborative work may be managed via technologies that uselocal and cloud-based services to try to address user needs. Currenttechnologies may create a patchwork of ad-hoc Internet sites andapplications which provide marginal productivity gains. Furthermore,because these current technologies are typically proprietary, it may bedifficult to create a common ground for various applications fromdifferent vendors to allow these applications to work together in auseful way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary collaborative team environment inaccordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary method for creating a collaborative teamassociation in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method for providing collaborativedocumentation to a plurality of team members on a team in accordancewith example embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example data file containing information aboutmodifications made to a collaborative document in accordance withexample embodiments; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which anyone or more of the techniques discussed herein may be performed inaccordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

Several of the embodiments described herein provide techniques forcreating and managing collaborative working teams using a teammanagement module or a team management logic unit. In exampleembodiments, a collaborative team may be created by creating anassociation between team members and the collaborative documentsbelonging to the collaborative team. In some embodiments, a team memberon a particular team may also be a member of any number of other teams.The associations between teams and team members may be mapped and usedfor efficient project management. In some embodiments, the collaborativeteam may be created upon the creation of an initial meeting of the team.For example, a team leader may send a meeting invitation to members ofthe team to begin work on a team project associated with the team. Theassociation between team members may be created via the creation of themeeting invitation sent to members of the team.

In some embodiments, each team may be associated with one or morecollaborative team documents related to a team project. These documentsmay be created using any software application, herein referred to simplyas “application.” for the creation of any kind of document, such as,e.g., a spreadsheet document, a word processing document, a presentationdocument, etc. Each document that is related to the team project may beassociated with the members of the team. In some embodiments, the teammanagement module may allow members of the team to simultaneously modifya collaborative team document in a manner such that each member of theteam is notified of changes made by other team members and provided anup-to-date version of the document.

In some embodiments, the team management module may utilize aninfrastructure that is based on a chat or messaging protocol. Thisinfrastructure may allow for the organization and management of linksbetween team members and documents, as well as simultaneousmodifications made to a document by one or more team members.

For example, FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary collaborative team environment100 through which the creation and management of a team and itsdocuments may be performed. The collaborative team environment mayinclude a team management module 130 in communication with one or moreteam member platforms (105, 110, 115, and 120) having one or moreapplications 125. The collaborative team environment may be incommunication with the one or more team member platforms (105, 110, 115,and 120) via any type of communication network.

The one or more applications 125 of each team member platform 105, 110,115, and 120 may be any application that a team member may use toperform any task. For example, these applications 125 may include aspreadsheet application, a word processing application, a presentationapplication, a calendar or meeting application, an Internet browser, anemail application, a chat application, etc. Each team member platform105, 110, 115, and 120 may include any number and type of application125. In some embodiments, the applications 125 may be in communicationwith one another such that activity by a team member within oneapplication may impact activity within another application.

The team member platforms 105, 110, 115, and 120 in communication withthe team management module 130 may represent platforms of a member orworker on a collaborative team. In some embodiments, these team memberplatforms 105, 110, 115, and 120 may be a machine (e.g., computer)having applications through which a team member may work on any teamproject. For example, the team member platforms 105, 110, 115, and 120may be workstations on which a user may create and/or modify acollaborative team document using an application 125. The collaborativeteam environment 100 may have any number of team member platforms 105,110, 115, and 120. For example, a team having four team members mayinclude four team member platforms, which the team management module 130may associate with one another and manage. Additionally, the teammanagement module 130 may manage any number of teams having any numberof team member platforms associated with each team.

In some embodiments, the team management module 130 may be implementedin any manner (e.g., hypertext markup language (HTML)). In oneembodiment, the team management module 130 may be implemented usingHTML5, such that the team management module 130 may be platformindependent and may operate via any operating system. The teammanagement module 130 may use a chat or messaging protocol to createcollaborative connections between each team member (and team memberplatforms) as well as between applications 125 of each team memberplatform, allowing these entities to communicate information such as,e.g., each entity's state, changes to documents made by team members,requests or transactions for harmonizing interactions, etc. The chat ormessaging protocol may be any chat or messaging protocol (e.g.,extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP)). The chat protocolallows the team management module 130 to monitor and manage connectionsas well as creation and modification of team documents. In someembodiments, the chat protocol allows for the creation of a data filecontaining information, such as information about modifications made toa document by team members, when each modification was made and by whom,sources of the content in the document, etc. Because the data filecreated via the chat protocol concisely describes modifications to adocument, the updating of team member documents may be efficient.Furthermore, using the chat infrastructure may allow platform-agnosticteam collaboration.

In some embodiments, the applications 125 may be part of a suite ofapplications that include the team management module 130. In someembodiments, the team management module 130 may be a third-partyapplication capable of managing documents via an application programminginterface (API) or a plug-in or add-on for applications 125, such asapplications in Microsoft Office™, which was developed by Microsoft™,Inc. of Redmond, Wash.

In some embodiments, a collaborative working team may be dynamicallydefined via a calendar entry made using a calendar application, whichmay be one of the applications 125. This may be useful since calendarapplications may contain contact information for people within anorganization and may be used to schedule meetings with other people. Forexample, a team may meet regularly at a particular time and date with aset of team members attending the meetings. These meetings may bedefined by a calendar entry for this meeting, with each of the teammembers being dynamically associated with the calendar entry and thusdynamically defining the team for a particular project related to themeetings. In some embodiments, the team may have a hierarchy of teammembers being defined by the calendar entry (e.g., team leader, sectionleaders, etc.). The team members of the team (or a subset of thehierarchy or members of the team) may be linked via a common chat serverlist which allows these team members to share a virtual network with oneanother used for communications, collaborations, document state sharing,etc.

In some embodiments, documents associated with a team may be opened byone or more team members during a team meeting, such as a team meetingspecified by a calendar entry of each team member. These documents maybe documents distributed to the team prior to the team meeting. Duringthe team meeting, the chat infrastructure of the team management module130 may examine the team members attending the meeting as well asdocuments opened by the team members during the meeting on the teammember platforms. Common documents opened on team members' platforms maybe identified automatically and associated with the team and the teammembers. In some embodiments, the team management module 130 maydetermine that a particular document is used more frequently by aparticular subset of the plurality of team members and may define thatsubset of team members as a core group of team members to the team.

In some embodiments, these common documents may be identified by theteam members themselves and tagged as being associated with the team,either before or after distribution of the document. In someembodiments, documents common to the team may be stored in a designatedlocation. In some embodiments, these identified files and/or folders maybe highlighted by team members as being associated with the team. Themetadata for these files and/or folders may be associated with one ormore calendar entries associated with the team, and the files and/orfolders themselves may be tagged as being associated with the one ormore calendar entries as well. For example, a document may include ametadata tag indicating calendar information, project title, teammembers, optional attendees for a meeting, etc.

In some embodiments, the metadata for documents common to the team maybe used to search for similar content and information on thecollaborative team environment 100 (e.g., content from other projects).For example, a search for similar existing content from one project mayresult in material that may be used to advance the progress of anotherproject. Additionally, in some embodiments, each document may haveweighed values associated with the metadata tag of the document. Theseweighed values may be based on frequency of use, particular individualsections of the document used most frequently, age of the document, etc.These weighed values may be used to determine the importance and/orrelevance of the document.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary method 200 for creating a collaborativeteam association. In operation 205, the team management module 130 mayreceive a request to create a team. The request may include informationsuch as team members of the team, documents associated with the team,etc. In some embodiments, the request may be sent via a calendar entryusing a calendar application, as described above. In some embodiments, arequest may be generated by a team member of the team.

In operation 210, the team management module may use the information inthe request to define the team. The team may be defined by informationsuch as scheduled meeting times and places, team members, leaders,project title, business departments associated with the project, etc.

In operation 215, the team management module may also use theinformation in the request to associate the appropriate documents withthe team defined in operation 210. In some embodiments, the associationof these documents may be stored in memory at the team managementmodule. In some embodiments, team members may be able to access thisinformation to change associations of documents to a team or to addadditional documents to be associated.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 for providing collaborativedocumentation to a plurality of team members on a team. A team may workfrom a document collaboratively, and team members may be able tosimultaneously contribute to the document, whether the team members areonline or offline. Each team member may have a working copy of thecollaborative document on the team member's platform, such as teammember platforms 105, 110, 115, and 120. The team members may each havea working copy through applications on their platforms (such asapplication 125), which may be in communication with one another throughthe chat infrastructure. When a team member opens his or her copy of thecollaborative document via an application on the team member's platform,the team member may modify the document, whether online or offline. Themodifications made to the document may include additions, deletions,changes to content, etc. In some embodiments, the modification mayinclude an addition of content from other document sources.

When a team member modifies a working copy, a data file may be modifiedaccordingly. The data file may be associated with the working copy onthe team member's platform and may contain a list of modifications madeto a document since the document was initially created. The data filemay include information about modifications made to the document,including any modifications made by team members, sources for contentmodified (e.g., other documents on the system), etc. In someembodiments, the data file having modification information may resemblea chat file indicating a date, time, an identifier for one or moreusers, and the chat content from each user.

In some embodiments, the data files may be synchronized using a masterclock. This may ensure that the times when modifications were made tocopies of a collaborative document are synchronized across team memberplatforms. In some embodiments, a particular team member platform (e.g.,a team leader) may serve as the master platform, and the clock of thatplatform may be used as the master clock.

When team members' copies of a collaborative document are to be merged,in operation 305 of FIG. 3, the team management module 130 may receivedata files associated with copies or instances of a collaborative teamdocument from a plurality of team member's platforms. This may includereceiving from a first team member platform of a first team member afirst data file associated with a first instance of the collaborativeteam document. The first data file may be a data file for a firstinstance that is a copy of a collaborative team document and is storedon the first team member's platform. The first data file may includeinformation about modifications made to the first document.

In operation 310, the team management module 130 may reconcile the firstdata file with a master data file. The master data file may includeinformation about modifications made to the collaborative team documentby at least a portion of the plurality of team members. The reconcilingmay include merging and assembling the first data file (and any otherdata files received from other team members) into the master data fileassociated with the collaborative team document. In some embodiments, ateam member (e.g., a team leader, leader for a particular documentsection, etc.) may store the master data file on his or her team memberplatform. In some embodiments, the data files from the plurality of teammembers may be reconciled to the master data file according to themaster clock. That is, modifications made to copies of the collaborativedocument may be used in the master data file according to relativechronological order. In some embodiments, the modifications may be usedin the master data file according to certain preferences, such aspriority of team members submitting the modifications, for example. Insome embodiments, conflicts between modifications made amongst teammembers may be highlighted and resolved at a later time. For example,the highlighted conflicts may be resolved by a particular team member orby the team as a whole during a subsequent review of the conflicts.

Once the master data file is reconciled and updated accordingly, thecollaborative team document may be updated accordingly using the updatedmaster data file. In some embodiments, the master data file may bepushed to team member platforms. In some embodiments, the master datafile may be pulled by the team member platforms. In some embodiments,the updating of local copies of the collaborative team document mayoccur automatically. Since the master data file contains raw data ofchanges made to the collaborative team document, updating thecollaborative team document may be done quickly.

In operation 315, the team management module 130 may modify the masterdata file based on the reconciling of the first data file with themaster data file. The master data file may then be used to updateinstances of the collaborative team document of the plurality of teammembers. This may be done by sending a copy of the master data filecontaining the updated modification information to each of the teammember platforms associated with the team. The team member platforms mayupdate their data file using the master data file, which may allow thecopy of the collaborative team document stored on the platform to beupdated accordingly. In some embodiments, this may occur automatically.This allows the copy of the collaborative team document to be modifiedbased on the changes made, without having to download another copy ofthe entire collaborative team document.

In some embodiments, authentication and additional security features maybe integrated with each team member platform so that documents mayreside encrypted on the platform. The additional security may includerestricting access to documents to particular team members having anencryption key for the document, automatically closing a document aftera period of inactivity, limiting access to a document based on the teamplatform or user device used to access the document, etc.

In some embodiments, the updating of the data files may occur in or nearreal-time. That is, each time a team member modifies a document, thedata file for that document may be sent to the team management module130 and may be used to update the master data file, as well as otherteam member's data files. In some embodiments, the real-timemodifications and updates to the collaborative document may be madeduring a meeting of the team. Furthermore, because the team managementmodule 130 operates using a chat infrastructure, in an embodiment, teammembers may chat with one another via the team member platforms forfurther collaboration.

In some embodiments, a team leader may be in charge of a team projectand may be the responsible party for reconciling modification conflicts.In some embodiments, this responsibility may be passed between membersof the team. In some embodiments, a subset of team members may berestricted from certain modification authority. For example, some teammembers may be restricted from submitting a modification which conflictswith another team member's modifications.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example data file 400 containing information aboutmodifications made to a collaborative document. The data file 400 mayinclude a date 405 and a time 410 that a modification was made to adocument. The data file may also include identifiers 415 identifying theteam member who made the modification. The data file may includeadditional information such as when the document was created 420 and thecontents of the modification 425. The data file may also includeinformation about the source of the contents 430. The modificationinformation may be used to update a document accordingly.

In some embodiments, the data files may be used to generate statisticalinformation about a team member. For example, the data files may be usedto track how much a particular team member has contributed to a documentby tracking the modifications the team member has made, how long a teammember has worked on a document, whether the contributions were originalor were derived from other sources on the system, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 500 upon whichany one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed hereinmay be performed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 500 mayoperate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 500 may operatein the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the machine 500 mayact as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed)network environment. The machine 500 may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), amobile telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloudcomputing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer clusterconfigurations.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities capable of performing specified operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits maybe arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities suchas other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, thewhole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone,client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors maybe configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, anapplication portion, or an application) as a module that operates toperform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside (1)on a non-transitory machine-readable medium or (2) in a transmissionsignal. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlyinghardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specifiedoperations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 500 may include a hardware processor502 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 504, and a static memory 506, some or all of which maycommunicate with each other via an interlink 508 (e.g., a bus). Themachine 500 may further include a display device 510, an input device512 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 511(e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 510, input device512, and UI navigation device 514 may be a touch screen display. Themachine 500 may additionally include a mass storage (e.g., drive unit)516, a signal generation device 518 (e.g., a speaker), a networkinterface device 520, and one or more sensors 521, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or othersensor. The machine 500 may include an output controller 528, such as aserial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired orwireless (e.g., infrared (IR)) connection to communicate or control oneor more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

The mass storage 516 may include a machine-readable storage medium 522on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions524 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 524 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504,within static memory 506, or within the hardware processor 502 duringexecution thereof by the machine 500. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 502, the main memory 504, thestatic memory 506, or the mass storage 516 may constitute machinereadable media.

While the machine-readable storage medium 522 is illustrated as a singlemedium, the term “machine readable medium” may include a single mediumor multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) that configured to store the one or moreinstructions 524.

The term “machine-readable storage medium” may include any tangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructionsfor execution by the machine 500 and that cause the machine 500 toperform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, orthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used byor associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine-readablemedium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical andmagnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media may include:non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g.,Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The instructions 524 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 526 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 520 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others.In an example, the network interface device 520 may include one or morephysical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or moreantennas to connect to the communications network 526. In an example,the network interface device 520 may include a plurality of antennas towirelessly communicate using at least one of single-inputmultiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), ormultiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. The term “transmissionmedium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by themachine 500, and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

Additional Notes and Examples

The above detailed description includes references to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawingsshow, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. These embodiments are also referred toherein as “examples.” Such examples may include elements in addition tothose shown or described. However, the present inventors alsocontemplate examples in which only those elements shown or described areprovided. Moreover, the present inventors also contemplate examplesusing any combination or permutation of those elements shown ordescribed (or one or more aspects thereof), either with respect to aparticular example (or one or more aspects thereof), or with respect toother examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or describedherein.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and“in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respectiveterms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, theterms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system,device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to thoselisted after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within thescope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms“first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and arenot intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or moreaspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments may be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the artupon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), to allowthe reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in theabove Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together tostreamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intendingthat an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather,inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of aparticular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the invention should bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Example 1 describes an apparatus, system, method, or machine readablemedium for managing a collaborative working environment having aplurality of team members. The system and apparatus may include one ormore processors in communication with a team management logic unit or amanaging module and may be configured to manage the collaborativeworking environment. A first data file associated with a first instanceof the collaborative team document having been edited by the first teammember may be received by the managing module or team management logicunit. The first data file may include information about modificationsmade to the first instance of the collaborative document. The first datafile may be reconciled with a master data file. The master data file mayinclude information about modifications made to the collaborative teamdocument by at least a portion of the plurality of team members. Themaster data file may be modified based on the reconciling of the firstdata file with the master data file. The master data file may be used toupdate instances of the collaborative team document of the plurality ofteam members. The system may also include one or more processors, one ormore applications in communication with the one or more processors,wherein the one or more applications is capable of creating thecollaborative document, and the managing module in communication withthe one or more processors.

In Example 2, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof Example 1 may be optionally performed or configured such that themaster data file includes data for tracking modifications made to thecollaborative team document based on a chat protocol.

In Example 3, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-2 may be optionally performed or configured such thateach team member of the plurality of team members is automaticallyassociated with one another based on a meeting request identifying theplurality of team members.

In Example 4, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-3 may be optionally performed or configured such thateach team member of the plurality of team members is associated with oneanother based on a team member request to associate the plurality ofteam members with one another.

In Example 5, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-4 may be optionally performed or configured such thata team member of the plurality of team members may be automaticallyremoved from the plurality of team members based on a frequency ofactivity of the team member.

In Example 6, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-5 may be optionally performed or configured such thata request to remove a team member of the plurality of team members isreceived and the team member is removed from the plurality of teammembers in response to the request.

In Example 7, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-6 may be optionally performed or configured such thatthe team management logic unit, one or more processors, or managingmodule is remote from team member platforms of the plurality of teammembers.

In Example 8, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-7 may be optionally performed or configured such thatthe team management logic unit, one or more processors, or managingmodule resides on a team member platform of a team member of theplurality of team members.

In Example 9, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readable mediumof the Examples 1-8 may be optionally performed or configured such thatthe reconciling of the first data file with the master data fileincludes reconciling conflicts between modifications made by the firstteam member and modifications made by a second team member.

In Example 10, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-9 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that the reconciling of the conflicts is based on a time of themodifications made by the first team member and a time of themodifications made by the second team member.

In Example 11, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-10 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that the information about the modifications made to thecollaborative team document includes any one or combination of: one ormore sources of content in the collaborative team document, an identityof a team member associated with one or more modifications, or a timeassociated with one or more modifications.

In Example 12, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-11 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that a second data file associated with a second instance of thecollaborative team document having been edited by a second team memberis received, the second data file including information aboutmodifications made to the second instance of the collaborative teamdocument. The managing module may determine a priority of a firstmodification indicated in the first data file and a priority of a secondmodification indicated in the second data file, wherein the modifying ofthe master data file is based on the determined priorities.

In Example 13, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-12 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that the determined priorities may be based on any one orcombination of a hierarchy of the plurality of team members or a time ofthe first modification and a time of the second modification.

In Example 14, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-13 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that statistical information associated with the first team memberis generated using the first data file, the statistical informationbeing related to contributions of the first team member to thecollaborative team document.

In Example 15, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-14 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that the collaborative team document is one of a spreadsheetdocument, a presentation document, or a word processing document.

In Example 16, the apparatus, system, method, or computer-readablemedium of the Examples 1-15 may be optionally performed or configuredsuch that the master data file is used to update instances of thecollaborative team document automatically.

What is claimed is:
 1. One or more non-transitory machine-readable mediastoring instructions that are capable of being executed by one or moreservers, the one or more servers being capable of communicating, whenthe one or more servers are in operation, via one or more networks withremote computer platforms, the instructions when executed by the one ormore servers resulting in the one or more servers being capable ofperforming operations comprising: providing document-related informationthat is to be communicated via the one or more networks, the informationbeing for use by the remote computer platforms, the information beingusable to modify one or more documents to reflect online collaborativeediting to be carried out using the computer platforms, the informationbeing based upon user editing requests received via the remote computerplatforms during the collaborative editing, the one or more documents tobe associated with one or more groups of users for permitting thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be created using oneor more software applications to be executed by one or more of theremote computer platforms, the one or more documents to be stored at theone or more servers, the information also to be used to indicate (1)respective document modifications requested by respective users in theone or more groups during the online collaborative editing, and (2) therespective users requesting the respective document modifications; andproviding user chat message information that is to be communicated viathe one or more networks, during the online collaborative editing;wherein: the one or more documents are to be associated with (1) the oneor more groups and (2) one or more project names associated with the oneor more groups; the one or more documents are capable of being taggedwith user-selected metadata tag information, to indicate association ofthe one or more documents with the one or more project names; the one ormore project names are associated with one or more projects; theuser-selected metadata tag information is also to enable searching basedupon the one or more project names; one or more notifications are to beprovided to the one or more users to indicate commencement of the one ormore projects; one or more other documents stored by the one or more ofthe computer platforms are to be automatically identified for sharingamong the users of the one or more groups; automatic identification ofthe one or more other documents for the sharing among the users of theone or more groups is to be determined based at least in part uponwhether the one or more other documents are stored in one or moredesignated locations.
 2. The one or more non-transitory machine-readablemedia of claim 1, wherein: the user editing requests are to be generatedduring the online collaborative editing; and during the onlinecollaborative editing, the one or more documents are to be modifiedbased upon the document-related information, in or near real-time toreflect the user editing requests.
 3. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 2, wherein: the one or more softwareapplications are to be stored at the one or more of the computerplatforms; the one or more servers are to receive one or more requestsassociated with one or more of the users of the one or more groups, theone or more documents to be associated with the one or more groups basedupon the one or more requests associated with the one or more of theusers of the one or more groups.
 4. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 3, wherein: one or more subsets of theusers of the one or more groups are to be restricted from modifying theone or more documents; and the document-related information comprisestracking-related information to track: one or more times and one or moredates of one or more document changes.
 5. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 4, wherein: one or more othernotifications are to be provided to indicate the one or more documentchanges; the one or more software applications comprise: a spreadsheetapplication; a word processing application; and/or a presentationapplication; and the one or more documents comprise a word processingdocument, a spreadsheet document, and/or a presentation document.
 6. Theone or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 5, wherein:the metadata tag information is also to enable search for contentsimilarities.
 7. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable mediaof claim 6, wherein: the one or more documents are to be encrypted. 8.The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 7,wherein: the user editing requests are to be generated simultaneously.9. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 8,wherein: the remote computer platforms are to store local copies of theone or more documents; and the local copies are to be updated based uponthe document-related information.
 10. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 9, wherein: the local copies of the oneor more documents are for use during the collaborative editing.
 11. Theone or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 10, wherein:one or more changes to one or more of the local copies are to besynchronized across all others of the local copies and the one or moredocuments, as stored, at the one or more servers; the one or moredocument changes, as stored at the one or more servers, are to be pushedto the computer platforms; and/or the one or more changes to the one ormore of the local copies are capable of occurring offline.
 12. One ormore servers capable of communicating, when the one or more servers arein operation, via one or more networks, with remote computer platforms,the one or more servers comprising: one or more hardware processors;storage storing instructions that are capable of being executed by theone or more hardware processors, the instructions when executed by theone or more hardware processors resulting in the one or more serversbeing capable of performing operations comprising: providingdocument-related information that is to be communicated via the one ormore networks, the information being for use by the remote computerplatforms, the information being usable to modify one or more documentsto reflect online collaborative editing to be carried out using thecomputer platforms, the information being based upon user editingrequests received via the remote computer platforms during thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be associated withone or more groups of users for permitting the collaborative editing,the one or more documents to be created using one or more softwareapplications to be executed by one or more of the remote computerplatforms, the one or more documents to be stored at the one or moreservers, the information also to be used to indicate (1) respectivedocument modifications requested by respective users in the one or moregroups during the online collaborative editing, and (2) the respectiveusers requesting the respective document modifications; and providinguser chat message information that is to be communicated via the one ormore networks, during the online collaborative editing; wherein: the oneor more documents are to be associated with (1) the one or more groupsand (2) one or more project names associated with the one or moregroups; the one or more documents are capable of being tagged withuser-selected metadata tag information, to indicate association of theone or more documents with the one or more project names; the one ormore project names are associated with one or more projects; theuser-selected metadata tag information is also to enable searching basedupon the one or more project names; one or more notifications are to beprovided to the one or more users to indicate commencement of the one ormore projects; one or more other documents stored by the one or more ofthe computer platforms are to be automatically identified for sharingamong the users of the one or more groups; automatic identification ofthe one or more other documents for the sharing among the users of theone or more groups is to be determined based at least in part uponwhether the one or more other documents are stored in one or moredesignated locations.
 13. The one or more servers of claim 12, wherein:the user editing requests are to be generated during the onlinecollaborative editing; and during the online collaborative editing, theone or more documents are to be modified based upon the document-relatedinformation, in or near real-time to reflect the user editing requests.14. The one or more servers of claim 13, wherein: the one or moresoftware applications are to be stored at the one or more of thecomputer platforms; the one or more servers are to receive one or morerequests associated with one or more of the users of the one or moregroups, the one or more documents to be associated with the one or moregroups based upon the one or more requests associated with the one ormore of the users of the one or more groups.
 15. The one or more serversof claim 14, wherein: one or more subsets of the users of the one ormore groups are to be restricted from modifying the one or moredocuments; and the document-related information comprisestracking-related information to track: one or more times and one or moredates of one or more document changes.
 16. The one or more servers ofclaim 15, wherein: one or more other notifications are to be provided toindicate the one or more document changes; the one or more softwareapplications comprise: a spreadsheet application; a word processingapplication; and/or a presentation application; and the one or moredocuments comprise a word processing document, a spreadsheet document,and/or a presentation document.
 17. The one or more servers of claim 16,wherein: the metadata tag information is also to enable search forcontent similarities.
 18. The one or more servers of claim 17, wherein:the one or more documents are to be encrypted.
 19. The one or moreservers of claim 18, wherein: the user editing requests are to begenerated simultaneously.
 20. The one or more servers of claim 19,wherein: the remote computer platforms are to store local copies of theone or more documents; and the local copies are to be updated based uponthe document-related information.
 21. The one or more servers of claim20, wherein: the local copies of the one or more documents are for useduring the collaborative editing.
 22. The one or more servers of claim21, wherein: one or more changes to one or more of the local copies areto be synchronized across all others of the local copies and the one ormore documents, as stored, at the one or more servers; the one or moredocument changes, as stored at the one or more servers, are to be pushedto the computer platforms; and/or the one or more changes to the one ormore of the local copies are capable of occurring offline.
 23. The oneor more servers of claim 12, wherein: the one or more servers comprisecloud computing servers.
 24. A method implemented using one or moreservers, the one or more servers being capable of communicating via oneor more networks with remote computer platforms, the method comprising:providing, by the one or more servers, document-related information thatis to be communicated via the one or more networks, the informationbeing for use by the remote computer platforms, the information beingusable to modify one or more documents to reflect online collaborativeediting to be carried out using the computer platforms, the informationbeing based upon user editing requests received via the remote computerplatforms during the collaborative editing, the one or more documents tobe associated with one or more groups of users for permitting thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be created using oneor more software applications to be executed by one or more of theremote computer platforms, the one or more documents to be stored at theone or more servers, the information also to be used to indicate (1)respective document modifications requested by respective users in theone or more groups during the online collaborative editing, and (2) therespective users requesting the respective document modifications; andproviding, by the one or more servers, user chat message informationthat is to be communicated via the one or more networks, during theonline collaborative editing; wherein: the one or more documents are tobe associated with (1) the one or more groups and (2) one or moreproject names associated with the one or more groups; the one or moredocuments are capable of being tagged with user-selected metadata taginformation, to indicate association of the one or more documents withthe one or more project names; the one or more project names areassociated with one or more projects; the user-selected metadata taginformation is also to enable searching based upon the one or moreproject names; one or more notifications are to be provided to the oneor more users to indicate commencement of the one or more projects; oneor more other documents stored by the one or more of the computerplatforms are to be automatically identified for sharing among the usersof the one or more groups; automatic identification of the one or moreother documents for the sharing among the users of the one or moregroups is to be determined based at least in part upon whether the oneor more other documents are stored in one or more designated locations.25. The method of claim 24, wherein: the user editing requests are to begenerated during the online collaborative editing; and during the onlinecollaborative editing, the one or more documents are to be modifiedbased upon the document-related information, in or near real-time toreflect the user editing requests.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein:the one or more software applications are to be stored at the one ormore of the computer platforms; the one or more servers are to receiveone or more requests associated with one or more of the users of the oneor more groups, the one or more documents to be associated with the oneor more groups based upon the one or more requests associated with theone or more of the users of the one or more groups.
 27. The method ofclaim 26, wherein: one or more subsets of the users of the one or moregroups are to be restricted from modifying the one or more documents;and the document-related information comprises tracking-relatedinformation to track: one or more times and one or more dates of one ormore document changes.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein: one or moreother notifications are to be provided to indicate the one or moredocument changes; the one or more software applications comprise: aspreadsheet application; a word processing application; and/or apresentation application; and the one or more documents comprise a wordprocessing document, a spreadsheet document, and/or a presentationdocument.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein: the metadata taginformation is also to enable search for content similarities.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, wherein: the one or more documents are to beencrypted.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein: the user editingrequests are to be generated simultaneously.
 32. The method of claim 31,wherein: the remote computer platforms are to store local copies of theone or more documents; and the local copies are to be updated based uponthe document-related information.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein:the local copies of the one or more documents are for use during thecollaborative editing.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein: one or morechanges to one or more of the local copies are to be synchronized acrossall others of the local copies and the one or more documents, as stored,at the one or more servers; the one or more document changes, as storedat the one or more servers, are to be pushed to the computer platforms;and/or the one or more changes to the one or more of the local copiesare capable of occurring offline.
 35. The method of claim 24, wherein:the one or more servers comprise cloud computing servers.
 36. A methodimplemented using one or more of a plurality of computer platforms arecapable, when in operation, of communicating via one or more networkswith one or more remote servers, the method comprising: receiving at theone or more of the plurality of computer platforms, via the one or moreservers, document-related information that is to be communicated via theone or more networks, the information being usable by the plurality ofcomputer platforms to modify one or more documents to reflect onlinecollaborative editing to be carried out using the plurality of computerplatforms, the information being based upon user editing requestsreceived via the plurality of computer platforms during thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be associated withone or more groups of users for permitting the collaborative editing,the one or more documents to be created using one or more softwareapplications to be executed by one or more certain computer platforms ofthe plurality of computer platforms, the one or more documents to bestored at the one or more servers, the information also to be used toindicate (1) respective document modifications requested by respectiveusers in the one or more groups during the online collaborative editing,and (2) the respective users requesting the respective documentmodifications; and receiving at the one or more of the plurality ofcomputer platforms, via the one or more servers, user chat messageinformation that is to be communicated via the one or more networks,during the online collaborative editing; wherein: the one or moredocuments are to be associated with (1) the one or more groups and (2)one or more project names associated with the one or more groups; theone or more documents are capable of being tagged with user-selectedmetadata tag information, to indicate association of the one or moredocuments with the one or more project names; the one or more projectnames are associated with one or more projects; the user-selectedmetadata tag information is also to enable searching based upon the oneor more project names; one or more notifications are to be provided tothe one or more users to indicate commencement of the one or moreprojects; one or more other documents stored by the one or more of thecomputer platforms are to be automatically identified for sharing amongthe users of the one or more groups; automatic identification of the oneor more other documents for the sharing among the users of the one ormore groups is to be determined based at least in part upon whether theone or more other documents are stored in one or more designatedlocations.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein: the user editingrequests are to be generated during the online collaborative editing;and during the online collaborative editing, the one or more documentsare to be modified based upon the document-related information, in ornear real-time to reflect the user editing requests.
 38. The method ofclaim 37, wherein: the one or more software applications are to bestored at the one or more certain computer platforms of the plurality ofcomputer platforms; the one or more servers are to receive one or morerequests associated with one or more of the users of the one or moregroups, the one or more documents to be associated with the one or moregroups based upon the one or more requests associated with the one ormore of the users of the one or more groups.
 39. The method of claim 38,wherein: one or more subsets of the users of the one or more groups areto be restricted from modifying the one or more documents; and thedocument-related information comprises tracking-related information totrack: one or more times and one or more dates of one or more documentchanges.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein: one or more othernotifications are to be provided to indicate the one or more documentchanges; the one or more software applications comprise: a spreadsheetapplication; a word processing application; and/or a presentationapplication; and the one or more documents comprise a word processingdocument, a spreadsheet document, and/or a presentation document. 41.The method of claim 40, wherein: the metadata tag information is also toenable search for content similarities.
 42. The method of claim 41,wherein: the one or more documents are to be encrypted.
 43. The methodof claim 42, wherein: the user editing requests are to be generatedsimultaneously.
 44. The method of claim 43, wherein: the plurality ofcomputer platforms are to store local copies of the one or moredocuments; and the local copies are to be updated based upon thedocument-related information.
 45. The method of claim 44, wherein: thelocal copies of the one or more documents are for use during thecollaborative editing.
 46. The method of claim 45, wherein: one or morechanges to one or more of the local copies are to be synchronized acrossall others of the local copies and the one or more documents, as stored,at the one or more servers; the one or more document changes, as storedat the one or more servers, are to be pushed to the plurality ofcomputer platforms; and/or the one or more changes to the one or more ofthe local copies are capable of occurring offline.
 47. One or more of aplurality of computer platforms that are capable, when in operation, ofcommunicating via one or more networks with one or more remote servers,the one or more of the plurality of computer platforms comprising: oneor more hardware processors; storage storing instructions that arecapable of being executed by the one or more hardware processors, theinstructions when executed by the one or more hardware processorsresulting in the one or more of the plurality of computer platformsbeing capable of performing operations comprising: receiving at the oneor more of the plurality of computer platforms, via the one or moreservers, document-related information that is to be communicated via theone or more networks, the information being usable by the plurality ofcomputer platforms to modify one or more documents to reflect onlinecollaborative editing to be carried out using the plurality of computerplatforms, the information being based upon user editing requestsreceived via the plurality of computer platforms during thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be associated withone or more groups of users for permitting the collaborative editing,the one or more documents to be created using one or more softwareapplications to be executed by one or more certain computer platforms ofthe plurality of computer platforms, the one or more documents to bestored at the one or more servers, the information also to be used toindicate (1) respective document modifications requested by respectiveusers in the one or more groups during the online collaborative editing,and (2) the respective users requesting the respective documentmodifications; and receiving at the one or more of the plurality ofcomputer platforms, via the one or more servers, user chat messageinformation that is to be communicated via the one or more networks,during the online collaborative editing; wherein: the one or moredocuments are to be associated with (1) the one or more groups and (2)one or more project names associated with the one or more groups; theone or more documents are capable of being tagged with user-selectedmetadata tag information, to indicate association of the one or moredocuments with the one or more project names; the one or more projectnames are associated with one or more projects; the user-selectedmetadata tag information is also to enable searching based upon the oneor more project names; one or more notifications are to be provided tothe one or more users to indicate commencement of the one or moreprojects; one or more other documents stored by the one or more of thecomputer platforms are to be automatically identified for sharing amongthe users of the one or more groups; automatic identification of the oneor more other documents for the sharing among the users of the one ormore groups is to be determined based at least in part upon whether theone or more other documents are stored in one or more designatedlocations.
 48. The one or more of the plurality of computer platforms ofclaim 47, wherein: the user editing requests are to be generated duringthe online collaborative editing; and during the online collaborativeediting, the one or more documents are to be modified based upon thedocument-related information, in or near real-time to reflect the userediting requests.
 49. The one or more of the plurality of computerplatforms of claim 48, wherein: the one or more software applicationsare to be stored at the one or more certain computer platforms of theplurality of computer platforms; the one or more servers are to receiveone or more requests associated with one or more of the users of the oneor more groups, the one or more documents to be associated with the oneor more groups based upon the one or more requests associated with theone or more of the users of the one or more groups.
 50. The one or moreof the plurality of computer platforms of claim 49, wherein: one or moresubsets of the users of the one or more groups are to be restricted frommodifying the one or more documents; and the document-relatedinformation comprises tracking-related information to track: one or moretimes and one or more dates of one or more document changes.
 51. The oneor more of the plurality of computer platforms of claim 50, wherein: oneor more other notifications are to be provided to indicate the one ormore document changes; the one or more software applications comprise: aspreadsheet application; a word processing application; and/or apresentation application; and the one or more documents comprise a wordprocessing document, a spreadsheet document, and/or a presentationdocument.
 52. The one or more of the plurality of computer platforms ofclaim 51, wherein: the metadata tag information is also to enable searchfor content similarities.
 53. The one or more of the plurality ofcomputer platforms of claim 52, wherein: the one or more documents areto be encrypted.
 54. The one or more of the plurality of computerplatforms of claim 53, wherein: the user editing requests are to begenerated simultaneously.
 55. The one or more of the plurality ofcomputer platforms of claim 54, wherein: the plurality of computerplatforms are to store local copies of the one or more documents; andthe local copies are to be updated based upon the document-relatedinformation.
 56. The one or more of the plurality of computer platformsof claim 55, wherein: the local copies of the one or more documents arefor use during the collaborative editing.
 57. The one or more of theplurality of computer platforms of claim 56, wherein: one or morechanges to one or more of the local copies are to be synchronized acrossall others of the local copies and the one or more documents, as stored,at the one or more servers; the one or more document changes, as storedat the one or more servers, are to be pushed to the plurality ofcomputer platforms; and/or the one or more changes to the one or more ofthe local copies are capable of occurring offline.
 58. One or morenon-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions that arecapable of being executed by one or more of a plurality of computerplatforms that are capable, when in operation, of communicating via oneor more networks with one or more remote servers, the instructions whenexecuted by the one or more of the plurality of computer platformsresulting in the one or more of the plurality of computer platformsbeing capable of performing operations comprising: receiving at the oneor more of the plurality of computer platforms, via the one or moreservers, document-related information that is to be communicated via theone or more networks, the information being usable by the plurality ofcomputer platforms to modify one or more documents to reflect onlinecollaborative editing to be carried out using the plurality of computerplatforms, the information being based upon user editing requestsreceived via the plurality of computer platforms during thecollaborative editing, the one or more documents to be associated withone or more groups of users for permitting the collaborative editing,the one or more documents to be created using one or more softwareapplications to be executed by one or more certain computer platforms ofthe plurality of computer platforms, the one or more documents to bestored at the one or more servers, the information also to be used toindicate (1) respective document modifications requested by respectiveusers in the one or more groups during the online collaborative editing,and (2) the respective users requesting the respective documentmodifications; and receiving at the one or more of the plurality ofcomputer platforms, via the one or more servers, user chat messageinformation that is to be communicated via the one or more networks,during the online collaborative editing; wherein: the one or moredocuments are to be associated with (1) the one or more groups and (2)one or more project names associated with the one or more groups; theone or more documents are capable of being tagged with user-selectedmetadata tag information, to indicate association of the one or moredocuments with the one or more project names; the one or more projectnames are associated with one or more projects; the user-selectedmetadata tag information is also to enable searching based upon the oneor more project names; one or more notifications are to be provided tothe one or more users to indicate commencement of the one or moreprojects; one or more other documents stored by the one or more of thecomputer platforms are to be automatically identified for sharing amongthe users of the one or more groups; automatic identification of the oneor more other documents for the sharing among the users of the one ormore groups is to be determined based at least in part upon whether theone or more other documents are stored in one or more designatedlocations.
 59. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media ofclaim 58, wherein: the user editing requests are to be generated duringthe online collaborative editing; and during the online collaborativeediting, the one or more documents are to be modified based upon thedocument-related information, in or near real-time to reflect the userediting requests.
 60. The one or more non-transitory machine-readablemedia of claim 59, wherein: the one or more software applications are tobe stored at the one or more certain computer platforms of the pluralityof computer platforms; the one or more servers are to receive one ormore requests associated with one or more of the users of the one ormore groups, the one or more documents to be associated with the one ormore groups based upon the one or more requests associated with the oneor more of the users of the one or more groups.
 61. The one or morenon-transitory machine-readable media of claim 60, wherein: one or moresubsets of the users of the one or more groups are to be restricted frommodifying the one or more documents; and the document-relatedinformation comprises tracking-related information to track: one or moretimes and one or more dates of one or more document changes.
 62. The oneor more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 61, wherein: oneor more other notifications are to be provided to indicate the one ormore document changes; the one or more software applications comprise: aspreadsheet application; a word processing application; and/or apresentation application; and the one or more documents comprise a wordprocessing document, a spreadsheet document, and/or a presentationdocument.
 63. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media ofclaim 62, wherein: the metadata tag information is also to enable searchfor content similarities.
 64. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 63, wherein: the one or more documentsare to be encrypted.
 65. The one or more non-transitory machine-readablemedia of claim 64, wherein: the user editing requests are to begenerated simultaneously.
 66. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 65, wherein: the plurality of computerplatforms are to store local copies of the one or more documents; andthe local copies are to be updated based upon the document-relatedinformation.
 67. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable mediaof claim 66, wherein: the local copies of the one or more documents arefor use during the collaborative editing.
 68. The one or morenon-transitory machine-readable media of claim 67, wherein: one or morechanges to one or more of the local copies are to be synchronized acrossall others of the local copies and the one or more documents, as stored,at the one or more servers; the one or more document changes, as storedat the one or more servers, are to be pushed to the plurality ofcomputer platforms; and/or the one or more changes to the one or more ofthe local copies are capable of occurring offline.